Amusement ride employing a suspended tensioned static cable

ABSTRACT

A recreational ride employs a suspended tensioned static cable that allows the user to gravitationally ride, harnessed to a rolling trolley attached to the cable, from an upper platform to a lower platform. The trolley includes a brake assembly that is attached to a brake arm through a bolted connection, which greatly reduces the cost and complexity of the brake assembly and reduces the chances of operator error when mounting the trolley on the cable. The brake assembly includes two adjacent, separate, aligned brake pads fabricated of different materials, a forward pad being a non-metallic material and a rearward pad being a metallic material. A wheel assembly portion of the trolley includes a sheave plate, bolted to a brake arm, that is permitted to pivot about its point of attachment to the brake arm to thereby eliminate fatigue forces on the wheel assembly.

REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT

This application is related to and incorporates by reference the subjectmatter of U.S. Pat. No. 6,622,634 issued Sept. 23, 2003, to the presentinventor.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to suspended cable systems employed fora variety of purposes and, more particularly, to a recreational oramusement ride employing a suspended tensioned static cable system and atrolley or rolling device coupled thereto for gravitationally carrying auser along a span of the cable system between two cable supportstructures.

Suspended cable ride systems of various types are known in the priorart. The ride system described in the above-referenced patent employs atrolley, carrying a rider, that is adapted to travel along a cablesuspended between upper and lower support structures. The trolleydescribed in this reference includes a brake assembly that can be movedbetween an unlocked position that permits the rolling device to beattached to and removed from the suspended cable and a locked positionthat maintains the rolling device in its attached position on thesuspended cable during a ride. It employs a single brake pad fabricatedof a homogenous material that exhibits reduced braking effectiveness inthe high moisture mountainous environments in which such ride systemsare typically located. Furthermore, the trolley employed in this priorart ride system utilizes a cable wheel assembly that is fixed inposition and is therefore susceptible to structural fatigue failure. Thereferenced prior art ride system also includes a terminal brake assemblythat imposes undesirable forces on the rolling assembly duringdeceleration at the end of a ride.

It would therefore be advantageous to provide an improved trolley inaccordance with the present invention, for use in suspended cable ridesystems, and a terminal brake acceptor having a shroud member that isadjustable to accommodate parameters unique to each ride installationand having a stop for preventing damage to the nose of the trolley as itdecelerates at the end of each ride. The trolley of the presentinvention includes a brake assembly that is attached to a brake armthrough a bolted connection. This structural arrangement greatly reducesthe cost and complexity of the brake assembly and also reduces thechances of operator error when mounting the trolley on the cable. Thebrake assembly includes two separate, aligned brake pads fabricated ofdifferent materials, a forward one of the pads being a non-metallicmaterial and a rearward one being a metallic material to provide morereliable braking in high moisture environments. Thus, the operator is nolonger required to rotate the single, bulky brake pad of the prior arttrolley into its locked position at the beginning of each ride. A wheelassembly portion of the trolley of the present invention includes asheave plate, bolted to a brake arm, that is permitted to pivot aboutits point of connection to the brake arm to thereby eliminate fatigueforces on the wheel assembly. A spring gate provided on the trolley ofthe present invention prevents separation of the trolley from the cableduring a ride in the event of mechanical failure of the trolley itself

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a pictorial diagram of a trolley, constructed in accordancewith the present invention, for use in a suspended static cable ridesystem.

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the trolley of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a pictorial diagram of a terminal brake acceptor for use in asuspended static cable ride system, in which the position of a shroudmember of the terminal brake acceptor is adjustable.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a trolley 20 for use insuspended static cable ride systems of the type described in theabove-cited reference. Trolley 20 includes a wheel assembly 30 having acable wheel 32, a brake arm 34 to which a brake assembly 24 is attached,and a track guide 36 to which a rider's harness is attached. Wheelassembly 30 further includes a sheave plate 38 having a generallyU-shaped inverted configuration. Cable wheel 32 is mounted for rotationwithin and near the top of sheave plate 38 by means of a bolt 31. Afrontal leg of sheave plate 38 is in turn mounted to brake arm 34 bymeans of a bolt 33, about which sheave plate 38 is free to pivot. Sheaveplate 38 is preferably spring-biased at bolt 33 so that its quiescentposition is as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, generally perpendicular tobrake arm 34. A pair of spaced apart, parallel, vertical channel members40, 42 are attached to the outer surface of the frontal leg of sheaveplate 38 to provide improved rigidity thereto and to retain the heads ofbolts 31, 52. A distal leg of sheave plate 38 terminates just belowcable wheel 32 to provide an opening for receiving a suspended staticcable (not illustrated) of a ride system as trolley 20 is placed thereonin preparation for a ride. The termination of the distal leg of sheaveplate 38 is formed as an inwardly turned hook 56. A spring gate 54 isfixedly attached to brake arm 34 directly below the termination of thedistal leg of sheave plate 38 for releasable engagement with the hook 56to prevent accidental separation of wheel assembly 30 from the suspendedstatic cable on which it is mounted.

Trolley 20 includes a brake assembly 24 mounted at a rearward end ofbrake arm 34. Brake assembly 24 includes adjacent,longitudinally-aligned front and rear brake pads 50, 52, each having aslot formed in a top surface thereof for receiving the ride cable overwhich trolley 20 is placed, the slots being axially aligned. Front brakepad 50 is preferably fabricated of a non-metallic material such as nylonor UHMW, while rear brake pad 52 is preferably fabricated of a metallicmaterial such as aluminum. Non-metallic front brake pad 50 serves toforce away any moisture that may be present on the ride cable in advanceof its contact with metallic rear brake pad 52. By eliminating anymoisture from the ride cable in advance of its contact with metallicbrake pad 52, the coefficient of friction between the two is moreconstant and the braking action is thus more predictable. The use of twobrake pads 50, 52 in accordance with the present invention eliminatesthe hydroplaning effect observed in high moisture environments in thebrake assemblies of the prior art which utilized only a singlenon-metallic brake pad. Two plates 60, 62 are mounted alongside thefront and rear surfaces, respectively, of brake pads 50, 52 to serve asheat shields, protecting operating personnel from the possibility ofcontact with metallic brake pad 52, in particular.

A replaceable bumper 80 is provided atop the forward end or nose ofbrake arm 34 for contacting a terminal brake acceptor mounted at thelower end of the ride cable. Bumper 80 may be fabricated of aconventional hard rubber or polymeric material that is capable ofabsorbing the impact force resulting from trolley 20 impacting theterminal brake acceptor at the end of a ride. A back-up chain 82 isattached to brake arm 34 proximate the rear end thereof. A carabiner 83or other common quick attachment device is provided at the free end ofsafety chain 82 for connection over the ride cable to prevent accidentalseparation of trolley 20 from the ride cable.

Referring now to FIG. 3, there is shown a terminal brake acceptor 64positioned as is terminal brake acceptor 54 of the above-cited referenceproximate the terminal end of a ride cable. Terminal brake acceptor 64of the present invention includes a shroud 66 and a stop 68 mountedwithin shroud 66. The distance between shroud 66 and a cable clamp 67 ofterminal brake acceptor 64 is arranged by any convenient means to beadjustable to accommodate parameters unique to each ride installation.Stop 68 is generally cylindrical in shape and is preferably fabricatedof a hard plastic material such as UHMW or a hard rubber material to actas a bumper to dampen the deceleration forces exerted on trolley 20 asit enters terminal brake acceptor 64 at the end of a ride.

1. A trolley for use with an amusement ride of the type having upper andlower earth-mounted cable support structures positioned such that theupper cable support structure is at a higher terrain elevation than thelower cable support structure, at least one static tensioned ridingcable connected between the upper and lower cable support structures,the trolley being adapted for removable rolling engagement with theriding cable, the trolley being further adapted to support a harnessedrider suspended therefrom, the trolley comprising: a brake arm having abrake assembly mounted at a rearward end thereof, said brake assemblycomprising longitudinally-aligned, adjacently-positioned front and rearbrake pads, each of said brake pads having an upwardly-facing slotformed in a top surface thereof, the slots being axially aligned forreceiving said riding cable, said front brake pad comprising anon-metallic material and said rear brake pad comprising a metallicmaterial; a cable wheel assembly connected to said brake arm so as toextend upwardly therefrom, said cable wheel assembly comprising a cablewheel adapted for rolling engagement with said riding cable, said cablewheel assembly comprising a sheave plate having a generally U-shapedinverted configuration, said cable wheel being mounted for rotationwithin said sheave plate and proximate a top end thereof, a firstdownwardly extending leg of said sheave plate being attached to saidbrake arm such that said sheave plate is free to pivot with respect tosaid brake arm at a point of attachment therebetween, a second leg ofsaid sheave plate extending downwardly in parallel relationship to saidfirst leg and being shorter in length than said first leg to form anopening for receiving said riding cable for engagement with said cablewheel.
 2. A trolley as in claim 1, wherein said front brake padcomprises a non-metallic material.
 3. A trolley as in claim 2, whereinsaid non-metallic material comprises nylon material.
 4. A trolley as inclaim 2, wherein said non-metallic material comprises UHMW material. 5.A trolley as in claim 1, wherein said rear brake pad comprises aluminum.6. A trolley as in claim 1, wherein said brake assembly furthercomprises a pair of heat shield plates mounted so as to substantiallycover an outer surface of each of said front and rear brake pads.
 7. Atrolley as in claim 1, wherein said brake arm further comprises areplaceable bumper mounted atop a forward end of said brake arm.
 8. Atrolley as in claim 7, wherein said bumper comprises a hard rubbermaterial.
 9. A trolley as in claim 7, wherein said bumper comprises apolymeric material.
 10. A trolley as in claim 1, further comprising aback-up chain connected to said brake arm and an attachment device forloosely coupling said back-up chain to said riding cable.
 11. Anamusement ride comprising: upper and lower earth-mounted cable supportstructures positioned such that said upper cable support structure ishigher in elevation than said lower cable support structure; at leastone static tension riding cable connected between said upper and lowercable support structures; a trolley adapted for removable rollingengagement with said riding cable, the trolley being further adapted tosupport a harnessed rider suspended therefrom, the trolley comprising abrake arm having a brake assembly mounted at a rearward end thereof,said brake assembly comprising longitudinally-aligned,adjacently-positioned front and rear brake pads, each of said brake padshaving an upwardly-facing slot formed in a top surface thereof, theslots being axially aligned for receiving said riding cable, said frontbrake pad comprising a non-metallic material and said rear brake padcomprising a metallic material, said trolley further comprising a cablewheel assembly connected to said brake arm so as to extend upwardlytherefrom, said cable wheel assembly comprising a cable wheel adaptedfor rolling engagement with said riding cable, said cable wheel assemblycomprising a sheave plate having a generally U-shaped invertedconfiguration, said cable wheel being mounted for rotation within saidsheave plate and proximate a top end thereof, a first downwardlyextending leg of said sheave plate being attached to said brake arm suchthat said sheave plate is free to pivot with respect to said brake armat a point of attachment therebetween, a second leg of said sheave plateextending downwardly in parallel relationship to said first leg andbeing shorter in length than said first leg to form an opening forreceiving said riding cable for engagement with said cable wheel, aterminus of said second leg of said sheave plate being formed as aninwardly-turned hook, said cable wheel assembly further comprising aspring gate connected to said brake arm, said spring gate being arrangedfor releasable engagement with said hook; and a terminal brake acceptorhaving a cable clamp member positioned over said riding cable proximatea terminal end thereof and having an inverted, generally V-shaped shroudmember depending from said cable clamp member, said shroud member beingadjustably coupled to said cable clamp member, said shroud memberincluding a stop member positioned therein for dampening decelerationforces imposed on said trolley as it enters said terminal brake acceptorat the end of a ride.
 12. An amusement ride as in claim 11, wherein saidstop member comprises a plastic material.
 13. An amusement ride as inclaim 11, wherein said stop member comprises UHMW material.
 14. Atrolley as in claim 1, wherein said sheave plate is spring-biased atsaid point of attachment to said brake arm to urge said sheave arm to aquiescent position that is generally perpendicular to a longitudinalaxis of said brake arm.
 15. A trolley as in claim 1, wherein: a terminusof said second leg of said sheave plate is formed as an inwardly-turnedhook; and said cable wheel assembly further comprises a spring gateconnected to said brake arm, said spring gate being arranged forreleasable engagement with said hook.